Truck.



E. P. PORCHER.

TRUCK.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20. 1914.

l 1 22,80 1 Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 1.

TN 8 l/VVENTOR BY 7 g M. A rromvus THE NORRIS PETERS c0 FHOT0-L|THO..WASHING Tim. 0. .1

E. P. PORGHER.

TRUCK;

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 20. 1914.

1 1 22,80 1 Patented Dec 29, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PATENT @FFKCE.

EDWARD PUSTELL PORCI-XER, OF COCOA, FLORIDA.

TRUCK.

Application filed April 20, 1914.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Pos'rnLL Pononnn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Cocoa, in the county of Brevard and State ofFlorida, have invented an Improvement in Trucks, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to hand trucks for use in moving boxes andpackages of various sorts, and more particularly designed for thehandling of citrus fruit boxes having panel heads, such as oranges aregen erally packed in.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a hand truckhaving gripping arms operable at will by a lever for grasping orreleasing a packing box, the arms being so formed as to engage the panelheads of the boxes so as to securely retain the latter on the truck, butwithout marring or cutting the material of which the boxes are formed,or the labels placed upon the boxes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hand truck such asdescribed, having a novel and simple arrangement whereby the arms may beoperated by a lever to grasp or release the boxes.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a truck of the classdescribed, which will be extremely simple, durable, efiicient inoperation, and inexpensive to manufacture.

lVith these and other objects in view which will become apparent as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the construction,combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully describedand claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which likecharacters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalfigures, of which- Figure 1, represents a front elevational View of thetruck, the arms being shown in full lines in releasing position, and indotted lines in grasping position. Fig. 2, represents a horizontalsectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line of Fig. 1. Fig.3, represents a rear elevational View of the truck, the arms being shownin releasing position. Fig. i, represents a side elevational view ofthetruck showing the manner in which the arms are used to grasp packingboxes, and, Fig. 5, represen s a fragmentary horizontal sectional viewtaken on the plane indicated by the line 55 of Fig. l.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lien. 29, wi l;

Serial No. 833,836.

Referring more particularly to the draw a truck is illustrated at 5,provided n th wheels 6, and handles 7, and with foot pieces 8 on thelower ends of the side bars of the truck, said foot pieces beingsubstantially wedge-shaped and tapering from their outer ends towardtheir innerends, against which toot pieces the lower edge of the box. orarticle to be moved is adapted to rest.

The front or top edges of the side bars of the truck frame, are recessedas at 9 near the lower ends of the truck, and in the recesses arepivoted by means of bolts passing through the side bars of the truck, orin any rather suitable manner, the grasping arms 1.0 and 11. he armsproject laterally from opposite sidesof the truck frame, bQffOIlCl thewheels, and. at their outer ends are bent forwardly at right angles, asat 12, and are then oft-set inwardly as at 13, the oil-set portions ofthe arms adapted to engage the Janel heads of the boxes in the mannerindicated in Fig. The arms are preferably made oi. substantially thinyet strong bars of metal, and it is to be noted that they are free fromany obstructions or grasping means, such as teeth or spurs, which ifused would not only tend to puncture and tear the boxes and labels, butA revent the insertion of the arms between closely positioned stacks ofboxes, it being evident that by reason of the manner in which the armsare framed, they may be inserted without dithculty between closelyassociated stacks of boxes, thus saving the operator the time and laborwhich would otherwise be necessitated by the separation of anyparticular sgack from the previous to moving the stack. The innerend ofarm 10 is offset as at 14:, and. is curved rearwardly and provided withan elongated arcuate slot 15, through which extends a pin 16 carriednear the lower end of a substantially straight hand lever 17, pivoted atits lower end to the rear or under side of the lower cross bar 18 of thetruck as at 15), and eZ-Itending rearwardly substantially the length ofthe truclr and guided by bar 20- supported near the rear end of thetruck, said bar being pro- \ided with rack teeth 21 to co-act with atooth 22 carried by the lever in maintaining the latter in any adjustedposition throughout the arc of its movement. The rear end 2% of arm 11is also off-set but to a greater extent than the rear end of arm 10, andis disposed at a slight angle to the arm 11, and extends loosely into abracket 24 carried upon the rear face of an arm or finger 25, with whichlever 17 is provided, and which is disposed to one side of said leverand parallel therewith, and in substantial alinement with the pivotpoint of arm 10, and pin 16. The arms as shoyvn in full lines in Fig. 1,are in position to grasp a packing box, upon the shifting of lever 17into the position shown in dotted lines. This operation of the leverwill swing arms 10 and 11 rearwardly, in orderto bring the off-setportions 13 of the arms into engagement with the box heads, so as to engage under the frames at the ends of the boxes in the manner shown inFig. l. The lever having been shifted, may be released and will be heldin position by the action of the rack bar, and will be released fromthis position only when the operator lifts the lever from the bar andmoves it in the opposite direction, as will be readily understood.

The device is of such a nature, that it may readily be applied to anytrucks now in use, since it requires no special construction of truckfor its operation.

It has been found that the operation of the device is extremelyefficient and positive, and that rapid, safe and proficient handling ofpanel head packing boxes has been attained by the use of the truck, andwith a minimum amount of labor.

The truck is primarily designed for the purpose of handling panel headshipping cases, but it will be understood that various kinds of boxesand objects may be conveniently moved by the use of the truck, by makingslight changes in the shape and construction of the grasping arms, andalthough the preferred embodiment of the device has been described, Imay desire to make such changes in the construction, arrangement andcombination of parts thereof as do not depart from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hand truck having its side bars recessed, grasping arms pivoted tothe bars within the recesses, and extending laterally on both sides ofthe truck, and being formed with engaging members at their outer ends,the inner ends of said arms extending toard each other between the saidbars, the inner end of one arm beingcurved-rearwardly and provided withan elongated slot, the inner end of the opposite arm being disposed atan angle thereto, a lever pivoted at one end to the truck frame, saidlever pro vided with a pin engaging said slot, and further provided withan. off-set arm disposed in parallel relation with the lever, a bracketsecured, upon said arm into which the angularly disposed inner end ofone ing arms pivoted to the bars, said arms ex tending laterally fromboth sides of the truck and being bent forwardly at right angles, theouter end of said arms being off-set inwardly in parallel relation withthe for 'ardly bent portions and adapted to engage the panel heads ofboxes substantially as described, and means for operating the said arms.I Y

3. A device of the class described comprising a pair of bars pivotedintermediate their ends, and extending at oneend toward each other, apivoted lever, a bracket sup ported by the lever into which the innerend of one of the arms loosely extends, the other arm having its innerend provided with an elongated slot, and a pin carried by said lever andextending through the slot.

at. A hand truck having a pair of arms pivoted intermediate their lengththereon,

the inner ends of said arms extending toward each other, one of saidarms having its inner end curved and provided with a slot, a leverpivotally carried by the truck,

a pin carried thereby for engaging the slot, and means carried by saidlever for engaging the opposite arm, whereby to move said arms as saidlever is moved.

5. A truck, graspingarms pivoted thereon, a lever pivoted thereon andextending longitudinally thereof and movable laterally thereon, abracket carried by the lever, one of said arms extending at one endloosely into said bracket, and co-acting means between said lever andopposite arm, whereby said arms are moved as said lever is shifted, andmeans formaintaining said lever in adjusted position.

' 6. A. truck, grasping arms pivoted thereon intermediate their length,said arms extending laterally on both sides of said truck, and at theirouter ends being bent forwardly at right angles in parallel relation andoff-set inwardly toward each other, the

rear ends of said arms being off-set and curved rearwardly in oneinstance and bent angularly in the other instance, a lever pivoted atone end to said truck, means carried by the lever for engaging thecurved and angularly disposed ends respectively to the arms, whereby tomove the outer ends of said arms toward and away from each other as saidlever is moved. and means for maintaining the lever in adjustedposition.

, EDWARD POSTELL POROHER. YVit'nesses:

R. P. HOLMES, Morris W. WEINBERG.

Copies 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

